Rivers State House of Assembly has said Governor Siminialayi Fubara’s letter on 2025 budget has not been sighted.
Fubara was accused of frustrating the implementation of the Supreme Court’s judgement especially the aspect requiring him to re-present the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the lawmakers.
In line with the principles of horizontal separation of powers as expressed in Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended.
The Chairman, House Committee on Information and Spokesperson of the House, Dr. Enemi Alabo George, who spoke on Sunday in Port Harcourt, challenged the governor to produce the acknowledged copy of the letter he said he sent to the House.
George said: ” Last week, we were told that on his way to Ogoni for a programme, the governor made a stopover at the gate of the House of Assembly Quarters to grant an interview to the press.
“In that interview, he claimed that he had sent a letter to the House of Assembly indicating his intention to visit and present the appropriation bill, a claim we found rather astonishing as no such letter was received by the House of Assembly.
“His aides later alleged that they forwarded a letter through whatsapp to some members of the House, which was also awkward, unprofessional and embarrassing.
“As I speak, the social media space is awash with stories about a purported letter from the Governor to the House of Assembly expressing his intention to visit the house to present the appropriation bill for the year 2025.
“Nothing can be farther from the truth. We want to state categorically that there is no such letter before the House of Assembly nor any of its staff. We challenge the Governor and his aides to produce an acknowledgement copy of such a letter or any evidence that such a letter was sent or received by the House of Assembly. It is absolutely untrue and unfortunate. The general public must as a matter of importance ignore such claim.
“It is now very obvious that if at all there was such a letter, the intended recipient was not the legislature, but the public, and the clear intention was to play to the gallery, whip up public sentiment, demonize the House of Assembly and set the public against us. This is demeaning, denigrating and perilously unfortunate.”
“It is in responding to the attitude that the supreme court said in its judgement:
‘A government cannot be said to exist without one of the three arms that make up the government of the state under the 1999 constitution. In this case, the executive arm of the government has chosen to collapse the legislature to enable him govern without the legislature as a despot.
As it is, there is no Government in Rivers State’.”
George said the House had hoped that such strong words from the Supreme Court would help “purge the governor of such despotic ways”.
He said as an Assembly, the lawmakers were severely solicitous of progress of the state adding that one man should not be allowed to hold everybody in the state to ransom because of his ego.
George called on everybody to collectively call on the governor to do the right thing in the right and lawful way to allow the state make progress.
He said the Assembly was the worst hit in the ongoing crisis lamenting that the lawmakers had suffered untold hardship insisting that the governor must be stopped from extending such punishment to Rivers people.
George said: “This Assembly has borne the brunt of this crisis. We have endured immense hardship.
We have been battered almost beyond our carrying capacity. We have been punished unduly and unfairly for trying to perform our constitutional duties. Our governor must not extend this punishment to Rivers people. No, please no. We must not allow it.
“We have seen hell:
Our hallowed chamber was burnt down by the governor. The House of Assembly Complex was brought down by the Governor, totally demolished alongside our personal effect and belongings…
Our Speaker’s residence was brutally attacked. Our residential quarters was brutally invaded by the governor
“Our allowances have been seized for about a year and six months. we still continue to suffer. Yet we have resolved to put all of these behind us in the interest of our state, so that our state can move forward. We cannot afford to punish our people because of our ego and personal interests.
“We have our aged pensioners who must receive their pensions. We have our teachers in public schools who we depend on for our children to be educated, they must be paid their salaries. We have government hospitals and health centers which our people depend on for discounted and affordable medical services.
“We have public schools which depend on public funds for their daily running.
The governor is toying with the lives and livelihoods of Rivers people. Let us please all call on him to do the right thing in the interest of our dear state and its people”.